My Friend’s Band – An Interview With Freak Heat Waves by John St. Cyr

Freak Heat Waves are a fantastic post-punk 3 piece from Canada (Victoria, BC). These guys are equal parts hypnotic and chaotic, and recently released their self-titled debut courtesy of the late Christopher Reimer (Women, the Dodos). They were nice enough to answer a few questions in the midst of their expansive two month trek across the US.

Just to get it out of the way, can you give a brief little description of where your band came from? How’d you all meet, what were your first shows like, how many Gang of Four records do each of you own?

Thomas: We started playing music together a couple years ago when Steve and I moved to Vancouver Island. Steve and I had played together in previous bands and we met james while touring and playing shows with his old band. Our first shows where a little different from what we are doing now, it took us a while to find out what we wanted to sound like. I’m sure we all own Entertainment in some way or another.

Have you ever toured the US before? How have your experiences here compared to living and touring in Canada?

Steve: This is our first US tour, Canada is a lot more spread out, there are only like 7 places to play in the whole country

Your newest self-titled record was recorded by the late, great Christopher Reimer from Women & the Dodos. How did you manage to get hooked up with Chris and to what extent did his input affect your usual recording process?

Steve: We’ve known Chris for a while, one day he drunkenly agreed to record our album. We really had no recording process before working with Chris so his sonic touch caresses the whole album

I know that once you get deep into a tour as long as yours, it’s really easy to start feeling more like an animal than man. What slice of humanity have you brought along to help stay grounded? (eg. I always bring my copy of Ray Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles” on tour)

Steve: James reads, Thomas watches TV, and I listen to music

Last but certainly not least, what have been some of your favorite records to jam on this tour?

Steve: We’ve all been digging the new Beak >> and we listened to the entire Beatles discography in alphabetical order when we were touring with the band Each Other.

Be sure to catch Freak Heat Waves with Woozy and Habitat when they come to NOLA Saturday December 1st at Hey! Cafe.

About Chinquapin

Chinquapin Records is a cooperative of artists and advocates formed late 2010 in New Orleans, LA. Though the name is still young, the community that it represents has been sharing and caring since we first fell in love with each other's music.
Chinquapin Records seeks to be an outlet for sharing the music we make and the music we love.